New: Singapore Property News This Week #223

Income ceilings for both HDB flats and executive condominiums (ECs) will be raised from $10,000 to $12,000 and $12,000 to $14,000 respectively. According to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, this increase in income ceiling will allow more Singaporeans to buy new HDB flats and ECs as incomes have increased since 2011 when the ceiling was last raised. Not only so, couples are marrying later and hence are more likely to have crossed the income ceiling by the time they settle down. Besides that, the Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG) will be extended to cover households with income ceilings that are not above $8,500. The current maximum SHG amount has also been doubled to $40,000. To help second-timer rental households own a two-room flat, the Fresh Start Housing Scheme was also implemented. These flats will have shorter leases and stricter resale conditions thus making them more a...